Friday, April 11, 2008

Leaving, Apparently, on a Jet Plane

Yes, I'm booked on American Airlines for the flight up to Minneapolis today. However, the flight has not been canceled. My original flight was canceled yesterday, but I noticed it while checking my stock of frequent flier miles and managed to jump into the last remaining seat on a slightly earlier flight.

Minnesota knitters have warned me that the local forecast calls for rain, snow, hail, pestilence, earthquakes, dead arising from their graves, hay fever, and unattended toddlers, so I've packed accordingly. Unfortunately even my large suitcase isn't big enough for the collapsible harpoon, so I'll have to make do with a dpn if the situation arises.

Dolores and Harry are coming along, but they have opted to forego air travel entirely and will head north on Amtrak. Harry is excited at the prospect of lunch in the dining car, and Dolores is excited at the prospect of eight hours in a vibrating seat.

If all goes well, I look forward to meeting bunches of you tomorrow at Yarnover, although I'm skittish about following close on the heels of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's visit, which was also sponsored by The Yarnery. It's a bit like having the Rolling Stones open for the Jonas Brothers.

What I really want is to some day tour with Stephanie. You know, like that gaggle of blue-collar comedy guys who all tell jokes about living in a swamp and sleeping with their first cousins? For our finale we'd sing the bluegrass classic "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," with Stephanie playing the banjo and me on the bull fiddle, only with new lyrics about sock knitting.

In lovely St. Paul this morning we're down to just slushy roads, so hopefully you will have a safe and on-time flight today. My folks, who live an hour north in Sauk Rapids, are stuck at home under 12 inches of snow.

I'd pay money to see you and Stephanie on tour. The Yarnery Family Singers last night sang some wonderful adaptations of classics from the Sound of Music--with some knit- and yarn harlot-heavy lyrics, of course. :-)

so glad to hear the weather won't keep you away. I'm sure Delores will enjoy the ride.

and not to worry. Stephanie alluded to the possibility that she had brought us this fine spring snowstorm (complete with thunder and lightning). if you'd be so kind to take it back to Chicagoland, we'd be much obliged.

I'd love to see the two of you perform the closing musical number - I'm sure if you consult the Yarnery staff, they'd be happy to assist in the reworking of the lyrics. (hit youtube and search for the 'yarnery family singers'. do not attempt to eat or drink while watching them, though)

Oy. There is so much wrong in China right now, I don't even know where to begin. I hate to do it, but I may have to miss the Olympics this year. Maybe instead of a knitter's Olympics like last time, we could have a knitter's non-Olympics.

Anywho. Looking forward to seeing you in PA next week. I'll bring the washboard to keep rythm.

Hi Franklin! Good luck on the travels and hope to meet you tomorrow. We're at 6" of snow and counting here. May have to put the truck in 4WD to get out of the driveway tomorrow but I'll do my best to be there!

I saw Stephanie last night but unfortunately I can't make it to Yarnover, so I think it is essential that you two tour together. You'd have to find a really BIG venue for that, though! Tickets for the Harlot were gone in less than a week when Yarnery made them available.

At the moment it is just raining here in the Twin Cities, so hopefully your flights are mostly on time. Have fun at Yarnover!

We only get our first visit from her Harlotness to the UK this year, imagine the excitement if both of you were here! We would certainly have something other than the weather to talk about about. I think musical instruments and singing might be too much of a treat, though clog dancing might be acceptable :)

Man - Yarnover is being held at my old high school! I'm not living there anymore, and with the state of air travel these days I'm not sure I could get there in time if I tried. Have a wonderful (cold) visit.

I'd so come to see you (again)... if only I were closer.Even after the Harlot.But in combination.... wow.The mind boggles. The giggles and belly laughs start doing warm up exercises to get ready. The tummy muscles threaten to go on strike, as they KNOW they'll be sore in the morning.

Safe travels Franklin! Sorry the weather in MN sucks but what are you going to do? It's April and mother nature forgot to turn up the heat so our "showers" are a bit more solid than they should be. Next week will be in the 70's, cause that's how it goes.

I love the idea of the two of you touring..What a night that would be. And the tags at the bottom of the entry had me laughing loud enough to worry the dog! Be safe and i hope you dont have another flight cancelled. I hope Amtrak is relatively intact after Harry and Dolores.

How funny you should mention the co-appearance. I was just wondering a few weeks ago if there might have been any way to attempt to coerce you into coming over the same day Stephanie would be in our city. :) Alas, time was not on my side.

I keep checking the status of your flight, and so far it's showing as "On Time." I'll be there to pick you up. Of course, you'd better not be reading this until after you've gotten here because you'd be late if you weren't on your way to the airport already. OK. This comment makes no sense. I guess I'm just giddy at seeing you again.

Both would be heavenly, either one of you would be awesome. NO one wants to come down here to sunny Florida, though I'm not sure why with that nasty wintery time y'all have to endure! So, quit complaining about the snow (what's that?) and cold, grab Steph and get on down here!

Stupid to comment now as you're on your way, but the storm in Minneapolis proper so far is a dud...it was slushing when I drove back from the Harlot (in St. Paul)last night to Downtown Minneapolis where DH was pub crawling but it's just been rain today and the slush is mostly gone. So I figure you'll get here OK and I'll see you tomorrow...YAY! Can't wait!!

You really should try to tour with Stephanie, I think she'd love the company!! OK, gotta go check out the Yarnery Family Singers on You Tube, they were great in person but should be really hilarious on You Tube!!! Should raise some eyebrows in the Business Center of the Marquette (we Hotwired and got a great room!).

I felt I had to comment about your position on Tibet (and lest you think i'm Chinese of origin, i'm not. I'm Korean-Canadian).Loads of people don't know that many of those killed in the recent riots in Tibet were not actually Tibetans, but Han. I know that there is much disaffection right now in Lhasa and elsewhere, but it still seems worth mentioning.

For what it's worth, I'd hate it if a bunch of Chinese came to Montreal and protested "Free Quebec." In fact, I'd be downright pissed off.

I don't knit at all (so why do I read knitblogs? it's a mystery) but I SO would go to a double feature of you and Yarn Harlot.

Y'know, if Dolores is too much trouble, you could put her on a bus up to Winnipeg...I'm here for a month (usually I'm in Vancouver), and there's room on the couch for here, and a GIANT closet that Harry could use...

or maybe Harry should have the couch and Delores could have the "guest room"

Franklin - believe me when I tell you that Wisconsin and Minnesota DO have springtimes. You have to play close attention, though; they're usually on a Tuesday between 12:45 and 3:30. I figure this is a banner year, gettin' to see you AND the Harlot (and Crazy Aunt Purl a few months back). This is a VERY good time to be a knitterly sort, I have to say.

The combined drawing power of two such illustrious knitters would simply inundate any local venue! And if Dolo decided to come as well? Panoptical pandemonium! (Wanna try for Austin????!!! Pleeeeeeeese?!?)By the way, I second "SouthPark Franklin's" sentiments! See you in Texas!

oh man, im finally starting a knit group in kingston, ny and me and the lady that runs the place were trying to think of something fabulous to start the whole thing off with and she mentioned "that lady from canada" to which i replied "yarn harlot?". i then immediately mentioned you as someone i desperately want to get to our neck of the woods. i told her of your project and she was fascinated. so... whats it gonna take to get YOU there? wouldnt it be awesome to get the two of you, you and stephanie, there at the same time at my little ol' barnes and noble?? please please please with turkish delight on top???

Franklin - I just wanted to tell you what a thrill it was for me today to be photographed for your 1000 Knitters Project (and not just because you said I look too young to have an 18-year-old son). I had no idea that you were going to be at Yarnover until about 10 minutes before I met you. I've heard about your project through Cast On and other sources, but I never imagined my hands might be one of your "models". Thanks for allowing me to squeeze into your schedule!

I'm so far behind on my fave blogs, but I just had to comment on this one! I'm with Steph. A big bus a la Ken Kesey would be just the thing! And, hey, we've got yarn fumes to keep us all high for that!

You might need a stadium to hold a gig like that. Can you just imagine?

Ah, listen to the music of needles clicking away ... and peels of laughter & squeals as the ladies' panties fly thru the air. Oh wait ... that's a rock concert. I don't think they have banjos or even knitting needles do they? You & Steph could start a whole new movement tho.

Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more from this post. I'm very glad to see such excellent info being shared freely out there.

Copyright and Posting Notice

All original content of this blog, both words and images, is held in copyright by F. Habit. Use of any kind, in any medium, for any reason without express, prior written consent is prohibited.

Permission is not granted for the posting of any content from this site to Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, or any other Web site.

Please do not provide links to any product, service, organization or cause when leaving comments unless directly related to the topic of the post. Unsolicited advertising will be deleted and repeat offenders will be blocked.

When in doubt, please ask. I'm not mean, I'm just committed to preserving the quality of experience for my readers.